Apologia: Exploring Creation with General Science {Curriculum Review}

8th grade. The year of transition. When you are preparing your student for the demands of the high school work. To start preparing themselves to be more independent. To really hone in their work ethic. Yep, 8th grade scares me. LOL. Thankfully, there are a lot of companies out there helping with that in regards to curriculum, recognizing the transition that 7th/8th grade brings. In order to help transition from elementary science into the more rigorous high school science courses, Apologia has created the Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition course. I was very happy to be asked to review this curriculum and I hope you will read our review of this newest edition to the Apologia family.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

About the Product

Apologia is an award winning company for homeschool materials. One of the areas where they collect the most awards is through their fantastic science curriculum. Apologia’s newest curriculum,

Supercharged Science ~ Revisiting an Old Friend {Curriculum Review}

Five years ago, I was introduced to a science curriculum which was much loved by my oldest son. It brought together his audio/visual learning style with intense scientific study. He loved the experiments and we were sad when our subscription ran out. Needless to say when Supercharged Science popped up in our crew review list again this year, BOTH my boys were eager to give the e-Science Homeschool Science Curriculum another go! Join me now as I share my review of this full hands-on science curriculum.

About Supercharged Science

Supercharged Science is an e-Science online science curriculum created to generate a LOVE of science in your children. There are NO textbooks. No boring long ridiculous information about the cosmos. Instead, you get fun videos

Solar System: Online Unit Study from Techie Homeschool Mom {Curriculum Review}

If you have been a follower of the blog for a while, you know by now that our family does really well with unit studies when it comes to homeschooling certain topics. We love being able to bring together different resources and dive down different rabbit trails as we explore a topic. One of the hardest parts about a unit study, however, is the gathering of materials. They tend to be much more intensive in their preparation--one of the reasons some homeschool parents just can't do them. I recently was introduced to a series of Online Unit Studies from Techie Homeschool Mom. An online unit study where all the "work" is done for me? That still lets us dive deep into topics with a variety of resources? Something that my kids can do independent of me? Could this even really be true? Join me today as I share our experiences with reviewing the Solar System Online Unit Study from Techie Homeschool Mom--is it really the answer to so many issues with unit studies?

About the Product

Techie Homeschool Mom is the brainchild of homeschooling mom Beth who loves cool web tools and online learning resources. One year she decided to start creating fully Internet-based unit studies for her own children and decided to start offering them the homeschool community. Each Online Unit Study is an eLearning course that focuses on a specific topic but integrates various subjects. The course allows students to access websites and videos in order to learn about a topic. Incorporated into this are hands-on and digital projects to apply what they've learned. Unlike other unit studies, there are NO downloads or paper activities. Everything is recorded ONLINE. 

There are several different online unit studies available including:
Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study
Ancient Greece Online Unit Study
Ancient Rome Online Unit Study
Famous Artists Online Unit Study (Vol. 1)
Famous Artists Online Unit Study (Vol.2) 
Famous Inventors Online Unit Study
Solar System Online Unit Study

We have been reviewing the Solar System Online Unit Study. This course includes studies on the following areas:

Solar System Overview
The Sun
Planetary Orbits
Gravity
Planets
The Rocky Planets
The Gas Planets
Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors
Project: Solar System Model
As a bonus, along with hands-on projects, students will learn to use Google sheets to record and evaluate scientific data.

We completed this review as a family with both boys working together on the assignments.

Our Thoughts on the Product

First off--I will just go ahead and tell you that this was possibly the EASIEST science course I have ever done. Why? Because I basically didn't have to do anything but pull the course up on my computer. Techie Homeschool Mom did everything else! And--NO BOOKS! Nothing. It truly is a "paper-free" unit study option.

Okay, so now that I have that out of the way, let me share what this program looks like and how we used it. First off, you will need to log in and just start the course. We easily completed all the assignments and videos with a Chrome browser. If you don't have good internet this course WILL have issues as it is 100% internet driven. There aren't any issues with navigation--simply login and get started!

These courses are designed for students who can read and navigate around the internet--so I would put this at starting with 2nd grade and up--unless this is being used by a family. We used it with a 3rd and 7th grader and it was perfect for each of them.

After each lesson is completed, the student simply clicks "complete and continue" and the next lesson or assignment opens up. If there are website images or hyperlinks, you just click them and they open up in new tabs (LOVE THIS!). If you see a video, you click it to get it started. If you get lost somewhere along the way or don't remember where you left off, simply go to the left side of the screen and look at your course menu. The lessons that are completed have check marks--so just click the next one in line.

Our unit study began with basic chitchat about scientific theory as well as introducing some of the free reading book club ideas to go with the topics. With the book club, there is a commenting box where the students can talk to each other about the books they are reading.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get any of them, so we just went to the library and found some other solar system themed books to work through.

Reading about the Solar System

Reading about the Hubble Telescope

There are eight modules and a final project in this unit study. Each module could easily be completed in a week as there are three to four lessons in a module--typically 2 lessons, a project, and a book club discussion. It would totally be possible to do multiple modules in a week if your students wanted to move quickly. But I think a week per module works best. At this point, we are finishing up our 6th module working through one per week.

Sample Page View of a Lesson

The lessons are mixed media collection of internet materials. Some are videos, some are slideshows, some are readings, some are diagrams/images. Most of the lessons have quizzes to check the comprehension--they are all multiple choice/true or false. Every module also has a project--this is where the experiments, data collection, or art projects happen.

Let me take a minute to talk about the data collection projects.

Entering Sunspot Data

Sunspot Data to Record--we chose to print it off

Graphing the data we collected in order to answer questions

These projects were amazing because they TEACH my sons how to insert data into excel like spreadsheets using the ONLINE resource Google Sheets. Not only do they learn how to enter the data, but they learn how to tweak their chart AND how to turn the data into a graph.

Side note: I had NO IDEA that Google Sheets was so amazing, nor had I ever used it before! I am well versed with excel, but having an ONLINE option for this was a serious bonus for me as a teacher! I even was able to upload the Google Sheets app to my phone!

My boys took turns recording the data--it worked well having one read the information off and the other to record it. We recorded the number of sunspots from 1960-2014, compared the data of average hi/low temps for our city in Kentucky with my sister-in-law in Arizona, recorded information from our Gallileo experiment, and recorded planet data to compare different aspects. 

Our art project kicked off the course and we all enjoyed using chalk pastels to create a solar system.

The Inspiration for the Art Projects

My Oldest's Rendition

My Version

My Youngest's Solar System

We enjoyed adding planet identification apps to my iPhone so we could observe the night skies more clearly.

And I look forward to the final project that we will be completing in 2 weeks--making a solar system model. The course offers different suggestions on how this can be completed and encourages the students to share their creations on social media.

Okay--so what about the boys? What did they think?

They loved it. They enjoyed varied videos and information. One of their most favorite activities was the Mars exploration activity where they got to completed a "realistic walk-through of a 3-D model of a Mars base for the first humans to land on Mars. Over 100 images representing a Mars habitat, a greenhouse, a Mars car, and robot rovers." I think they spent about 30 minutes looking at every single thing in that walk-through activity!

I think the boys will be really sad to finish this unit study. It's been so nice to let them have their independence working through the program. They worked together to answer all the quizzes helping one another remember the answers. 

This takes them to a video for them to watch--and then a comprehension quiz

One of the boys enjoyed the data collection activities more than the other--my youngest. He's my math guy, so those activities of entering numbers and making graphs were right up his alley. 

It seems like this unit study is about an 8 week study. Unfortunately, there isn't an entire year's worth of science unit studies available from this company yet. The online studies available cover a range of topics from science to history to holidays to fine arts. I think these would be excellent for someone who is getting started with homeschooling and just needs something to take some burden off the planning. They would also be useful for a family on the go--like an RV homeschooling family--who needs the option of schooling WITHOUT papers. And of course, for the unit study family who wants everything already laid out for them! 

I think the biggest selling points of this product are:

1. Completely online--no extra resources or paper needed

2. Complete planned out for you--just turn the kids loose

3. Kid-Friendly and engaging!

These three things set this product apart from all the other unit studies I have explored for my family. I would absolutely use this product again!

Want to Know More?

We have spent the last several weeks reviewing the Solar System Online Unit Study from Techie Homeschool Mom. I encourage you to visit other crew members on this review to see what unit studies they completed to get an idea of the range of options this product provides.

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*****

CrossWired Science~ A Smorgasbord of Science for Your Family {Curriculum Review}

Our family has two subjects that we enjoy more than anything else: history and science. We could fill our days with these two subjects and be perfectly content. Of the two, my boys definitely prefer science and I'm always on the hunt for more ways to add science or more ways to explore science topics within our classroom. For the last few weeks, we have been reviewing a new program called CrossWired Science and their first two projects: Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. Our family has laughingly nicknamed this science curriculum "smorgasbord" science and today I am going to share our review of this program and talk about why it did or didn't work with our family--you might be surprised at the answer!

About the Product

CrossWired Science (which I will refer to as CWS) is a new online science curriculum geared for multi-age learning and an eclectic learning style. It can be used as a complete or supplemental curriculum depending on the family needs for a science program. This is a Christian worldview science

Full Year of STEM Activities from Tied 2 Teaching {Product Review}

We are a science loving family. I’ve recently been trying to figure out how to incorporate more STEM projects into our homeschooling, because I like to encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Enter Tied 2 Teaching and their STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading. A full year’s worth of STEM activities? Without me having to come up with them myself? Join me as I share our review of this product and learn why I think this is a must have for any homeschooling family or co-op leader!

About the Product

Tied 2 Teaching was created by a teacher who is a passionate believer that learning should be fun and that students learn best in an environment they enjoy! One of the best ways this occurs is when students work in an environment where they are encouraged to explore, create and try new things. Combining subjects is an excellent way for this to happen, and when you can combine Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM),

Charlotte's Web and Spiders: Exploring a Unit Study from Homeschool Complete {Curriculum Review}

We are a family with experience in Unit Studies. I’ve learned over the years that we enjoy the freedom they give to explore topics over a wide range of subjects. Over the last several weeks, we have been reviewing the Spider study in the Unit Studies collection from Homeschool Complete. I picked this topic because it was about something my youngest son (age 8) loved to learn about, and looked forward to a whole unit study revolving around it. Did the unit study live up to our expectations? Was this another company that we would continue to use for further unit studies? Today, I’m going to be sharing my review with you to answer these very questions!

About Homeschool Complete

Homeschool Complete offers a wide variety of curriculum options from complete online curriculum for grades K-4 to a collection of unit studies for grades K-6. The online program is all inclusive, literature based, and a year long.  Each lesson plan is created around thematic units with a biblical worldview. Even though the

IXL Learning~ An Online Resource for Practicing K-12 Skills {Product Review}

We first used IXL Learning several years ago. When we had the chance to review the annual membership to IXL again, I was curious to see how the program had changed and if we would like it. Both the boys enjoy online learning opportunities, so I hoped that this would be something we could incorporate into our routine. 

About the Product

IXL Learning is a comprehensive online resource for grades K-12 to use as a supplemental program to check on skills in Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Spanish. While not a complete curriculum, it can be used as a practice or review resource to see how your children are doing in different areas within these subjects at their grade level.

Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 from WriteBonnieRose {Product Review}

There are times when at the early elementary levels, you want a science program that is more of an introduction to a subject over rigorous study. But perhaps you desire something that allows you to fill it with loads of library books, Netflix programs, and other resources. Let me introduce you to WriteBonnieRose and her Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 (Cursive), where your children can explore life science, physical science, and earth science in a gentler more relaxed method.

About the Learning About Science Collection

The Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 from WriteBonnieRose contains seven books of science study. Included in the collection are:

Exploring the Human Anatomy and Physiology with Apologia {Curriculum Review}

Our #1 hands down favorite science curriculum to use in our homeschool is anything from Apologia. They are a best selling publishing company for a reason! Every single science curriculum we have done has been exceptional--and this last year, I even ordered one to do for the 2017-2018 school year--Chemistry and Physics. For the last several weeks however, we have been reviewing a different area of science Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, yet another in the amazing line up from Apologia!

About the Product

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is a curriculum from Apologia designed to introduce students to the human body and how it works. Not only will they go through and in depth study of the different body systems, but will also learn how the body WORKS and uses those

Three Tips to Get Started with Nature Study {Nature Study Series~Part 2}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

In my first installment of my series on Nature Study, I wrote about 5 Reasons to Add Nature Study to Your Classroom. We love Nature Study and our family feels strongly about making sure it's a part of each homeschool week. I know there are many out there who desire to add it to their lessons, but really just don’t know how to begin. It is for these people that I would like to dedicate this post which I've simply titled: Three Tips for Getting Started With Nature Study.

1. Don’t over think it.

Nature Study isn’t something that has to be planned out. You don’t need a lesson plan (although there are some you can have) to do it.

5 Reasons to Add Nature Study to Your Homeschool (Nature Study Series~ Part 1)

One of the most important subjects that I am teaching this year is Nature Study. I have found that by including Nature Study in my day or week, I can guarantee that things will go more smoothly. Nature Study is an "old fashioned" subject that used to be included in the classic "one-room schoolhouse" course list, but is missing from most classrooms today. There are many benefits of including it in your studies, so today I'm going to share my Five Reasons to Add Nature Study to Your Homeschool. 

1. Nature Study Takes the Focus Away From You

       Let's not kid ourselves. 90% (or more!) of our day is focused on US. What will we wear? What will we eat? What will we do? We get busy in our lives and it's very easy to create BUSYNESS for our children. Know that phrase: Stop and smell the roses? Well there is definitely something to that. Taking time to stop and smell the roses--to stop and explore the world around us--can help reset our focus in life. As soon as you really stop and look at

Thinking Like an Engineer~ For the STEM loving children in your family! {Curriculum Review}

We have noticed for awhile that our oldest son demonstrates strengths in engineering skills. He loves to design new LEGO creations and carefully plans and constructs them—far beyond any pamphlet included in a kit. His drawings have always been remarkably detailed and proportionate to real life. He’s most content designing or making something. When I was given the chance to review Innovators Tribe Thinking Like an Engineer self paced course I jumped on it. I hoped that it would be just the thing my son would thrive in doing, and open his mind into considering a degree in engineering in the future.

About Innovators Tribe

Innovators Tribe was created to provide parents and teachers the curriculum they needed to intentionally help revive innovation, creativity,

Exploring Creation With Marine Biology from Apologia {Curriculum Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

I love the ocean. It's my favorite place to vacation at. I really enjoy learning all I can about the ocean and the life it holds. Our favorite documentaries include the ones exploring our vast seas. I recently had the chance to review the newly revised Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set from Apologia Educational Ministries--and by I, that's what I mean! Because this a high school course, I chose to review this curriculum myself!

About Marine Biology from Apologia Educational Ministries

Apologia Educational Ministries is a best selling publishing company in the homeschooling world. They are especially well known for their amazing science curriculum which is written from an Intelligent Designer point of view. They offer a full line of elementary science options, as well as full credit lab science courses for the high school level. One of their most popular courses for the high school level--and newly revised!-is the Marine Biology course.

Exploring Apologia Astronomy with A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks {Product Review}

We have been working to complete the Apologia 2nd Edition Astronomy curriculum before we dive into our official start of school next week. We are on our last chapter, so the end is near. Throughout the time we have been using the curriculum, I have had each boy using the student notebooks by Apologia that coordinate with the topic. But the boys were kind of getting bored with them by this point. When we were asked to review the A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks, and I discovered there were lapbooks to go with the Apologia Curriculum including a coordinating one Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook, for our text we were almost finished with, I hoped it would be a low key way to wrap up our study--besides, we LOVE lapbooks!

About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks is a company that is devoted to providing quality hands-on materials to bring more fun into the "mundane" when it comes to curriculum. This is done through their creation of lapbooks!

What are lapbooks?
Think of it as scrapbooking your way through a subject. When you are done, you can share your knowing through hands on records of information in the form of little mini-booklets--these can be done through, through drawing, dictating or writing! These mini-booklets are then attached (glue or tape) into file folders. Perfect to keep a record of the time spent learning a subject, and able to pull it out for referencing at any time in the future!

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks carries a WIDE variety of lapbook templates--from standalone lapbooks on popular subjects, to materials that coordinate with popular homeschooling publishing companies like Apologia, Classical Conversations, Diana Waring, Geography Matters and more!

One of the most popular series are the lapbooks which correspond with the best selling Apologia Young Explorers science curriculum.

We were given the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook (instant download) to work on with my two boys age 7 and 11.

Our Thoughts on the Product

We aren't strangers to lapbooks and are VERY aware of how much time and prep typically goes into getting one of these ready. One of the things that I appreciated right off the bat, was that there was never more than one mini-booklet per page for this lapbook AND I could print it all on white paper choosing color or b/w ink. For this particular review, I didn't use my colored file folders, as I have a COSTCO size box of the plain manila colored ones ready for use--even had three pre-folded and ready to use!

I appreciate that I can download this file and save it to a flash drive to keep out of my computer hard drive. It's also in pdf form so very easy to use. Now, as I said before, we were already nearly completed with the Astronomy course, so it was silly to start at the BEGINNING to use the lapbook. So instead, I used the lapbook pages that coordinated with the last two units of our astronomy book, beginning with Lesson 13.

The astronomy lapbook is very very large--requires 14 file folders--using about 1 per unit. The first page of the lapbook download simply gives you a list of materials and directions on how to put the lapbook together--specifically how to fold the file folders.

I skipped ahead to the unit we were on, and scanned the lapbook portion that went with it. I like to note what mini-booklets I can print in b/w and what would work best in color--this saves me ink! Next, I simply go to the printing!

In the past, we've always done SEPARATE lapbooks for each boy--but THIS time I decided to try out doing a collective lapbook with each boy being responsible for a mini-booklet. This not only spreads out the work, but keeps them from being overwhelmed with the cutting/writing.

BEST DECISION EVER!!!

I have a boy who loves making lapbooks, and one who does not like them--but BOTH were satisfied with turning this into a joint lapbook--each contributing his share.

Because we already owned and had been using the Apologia student notebooks that went with our Astronomy, I simply used them to SUPPLEMENT the lapbook. Doing the mini-booklets in the lapbook, over the lapbook elements included in the notebook. THIS WORKED PERFECTLY!

We have been able to simply continue our routine using the Astronomy course. The lapbook pages are clearly labelled at the top with the parts of the unit they coordinate with...for instance, Lesson 1 has a lapbook page that has this direction at the top:

Cut out this piece and hamburger fold on middle line. (There will be a tab sticking out. Do not cut off) Fold tab up and over to keep booklet closed. (Like a matchbook) Glue into folder. Read Think About This and Navigation, pages 17-18. Inside the booklet, explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS.

This tells me that the information for inside the mini-booklet are on pages 17-18 in the text under the sections labelled as directed. So I will read that to my boys and they will then use the mini-booklet to explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS as directed.

See? It's like a study guide too!

Using the lapbook pages as a guide, we completed 2-4 lapbook elements each of the days we worked on it. And because we created a joint lapbook, we completed it more quickly!

Supplies needed?
Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2nd Edition Text
File folders--colored or plain
Your printer w/color and b/w ink
Printer paper
scissors
glue/tape
stapler/brads
pencils/pens/markers/crayons

That's it. Nothing weird or unusual.

Here are some photos of our completion of the TWO full lapbooks we have done so far--and we are in our third as of today.

Recording Star Classifications

Adding in the Dwarf Planet vs Planet Comparison

Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook almost completed

Cover of the Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook

When these are done, I will be able to store them easily for future reference if needed. If we had done the ENTIRE book with lapbooking, I would have 3-hole punched each folder and put them together in a binder to store.

I highly recommend this lapbook. It is available in instant download ($15)--which means no need for shelf space and print as you go. It is probably the MOST open and go lapbook I have ever done. I can say that because I have done a LOOOOOTTTTTT of lapbooks from many different companies. This one took the absolute least amount of time to complete. Period. The boys were able to cut everything themselves because there weren't weird shapes or thick paper. There was minimal coloring and not a lot of writing either. It worked perfectly in conjunction with the student notebooks we already had--and I would probably use them WITH the student notebooks for any further Apologia science. I feel they are each valuable and while you don't NEED to do both--yes you could do only this in place of the student notebooks, or only the student notebooks without this--I think they compliment each other perfectly.

The main con is that you need a reliable printer. And if you wanted one lapbook per student, you will be spending more on paper and ink than I did. By choosing to print some booklets in b/w instead of color, I was able to save some money.

I will take a moment to add that IF YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE IT ALL PRINTED ALREADY--there is an option from A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks to PURCHASE a printed copy of the lapbook for $35.00 (plus shipping). If you don't have a reliable printer or can't afford the paper/ink, this might be a good alternative for you.

Want To Know More About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks?

Over the last several weeks, we have been using the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook from the collection of Apologia Curriculum lapbooks created by A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks. You have seen how we have used them, but there were several other lapbook topics reviewed by our homeschool review crew--including some that coordinate with Classical Conversations! I hope you will visit the anchor post to learn more about what A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks offer!
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You can find A Journey Through Learning on these social media platforms:

* Facebook * Twitter (@AJTL_lapbooks) 

* Google+ * Instagram  

I am happy that this product worked well for us to finish our astronomy curriculum. It showed me that lapbooks work best for us when they do them as a team to share the work. Now we are eager to move on with our new science curriculum for 2017-2018!